PlayStation.Blog » grip gameshttp://blog.us.playstation.com
The official PlayStation Blog for news and video updates on PS3, PS4, PSN, PS Vita, PSPTue, 31 Mar 2015 21:05:17 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut Out This Summer on PS4, PS3http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/03/19/q-u-b-e-directors-cut-out-this-summer-on-ps4-ps3/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/03/19/q-u-b-e-directors-cut-out-this-summer-on-ps4-ps3/#commentsThu, 19 Mar 2015 13:00:49 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=151431Hi everybody. It’s Jakub from Grip Games. A few months ago, our friends at Toxic Games announced that their brain-twisting first-person puzzler Q.U.B.E. was heading to PS4 and PS3. Since then, we’ve taken over the development and publishing duties from them, so that Toxic Games can focus on their future projects while we will bring you the best version of Q.U.B.E yet — the Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut.

Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut is a first-person puzzle game. You wake up inside a mysterious white cube and you will have to solve dozens of physics-based puzzles and platforming challenges, using a pair of hi-tech gloves that can manipulate some parts of the environment to get out.

What’s new and really cool about the Director’s Cut version is the story. It’s like the story itself is a puzzle you have to figure out inside your own head. It’s hard to explain, I don’t want to spoil it! The new story was created by veteran writer Rob Yescombe. He’s written for games like The Division, Alien: Isolation, Rime, and the Crysis franchise.

The second major addition is a time-trial game mode, called Against the Qlock, where the game pits you against the clock. Combining precision, logic, and quick reactions you’ll have to speed through each of the ten levels using a variety of pick-ups to your advantage.

Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut is coming to both PS4 and PS3 and will be released this summer. The game’s on Unreal Engine, so expect it to look sleek and gorgeous, and the PS4 version will run in 1080p at 60 frames per second. And like with all our games, we’re supporting cross buy.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/03/19/q-u-b-e-directors-cut-out-this-summer-on-ps4-ps3/feed/18http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/qube.jpg3.49CEO, Grip Games182The Three Teams and Extra Coffee Behind Unmechanical: Extendedhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/02/13/the-three-teams-and-extra-coffee-behind-unmechanical-extended/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/02/13/the-three-teams-and-extra-coffee-behind-unmechanical-extended/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 15:01:18 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=149979Hi, it’s Jakub from Grip Games. This week, we launched Unmechanical: Extended for PS4 and PS3. Just like the story of the game, even the development has been a difficult journey full of puzzles and problems. This post-mortem article maps what we think went right and wrong during the development, and what has shaped Unmechanical: Extended into what it is today.

Unmechanical started its life as a PC game, developed by Talawa Games and Teotl Studios. At Grip Games, we have a long history of working with other game developers and bringing their games to consoles — The Impossible Game being the best-known among them. But Unmechanical was a completely different beast — created using an AAA engine, bigger than any other game we have made up until then and with a dedicated fan base that would eat us alive if we messed it up. Developing Unmechanical: Extended was really like getting sucked into a dangerous underground world looking for a way to see the daylight again.

What Went Right

Extending Unmechanical

Unmechanical got some rave reviews when it was released on PC, won prestigious awards for its visuals, and had a large community of die-hard fans. But the console version needed to bring something new. More story, more puzzles, and more characters — to make the game longer and to let everyone who enjoyed the original game get something new. And thus Teotl Studios and Talawa Games created Extended — a completely new episode, where we return to the strange Unmechanical complex one more time.

And the developers really outdid themselves with Extended. They included a second character in that story, which spends a lot of time with your character, but always separated from him, sometimes working together to solve puzzles, sometimes needing to be saved, or saving you.

Extended really took Unmechanical in a great new direction and made the whole game a lot richer.

Unreal Engine

Unreal is the king of game engines, and when you look at screenshots and trailers from Unmechanical, you’ll immediately see why. Even a small, independent team can create a truly beautiful game, full of visual effects that are usually only associated with AAA projects.

It’s not always easy to tame the Unreal Engine beast, as it was made for large-scale projects and not for super-effective indie development, but it rarely became an issue. I think that the game could never look even remotely this good, across several different game platforms, as it does, without Unreal Engine. We have several other games in development and all of them are using Unreal.

The Team(s)

Unmechanical: Extended was a collaboration between three companies — Grip Games, Teotl Studios, and Talawa Games. Each having their own tasks to do and with people scattered all around Europe, from the Czech Republic and Germany, to Sweden. It could have turned into a disaster, but it actually worked really well. Problems were solved, discussions were friendly, deadlines and milestones were not missed by rage-inducing amounts.

Thanks to Unmechanical, we have adopted Unreal engine as our technology of choice for future projects and formed a lot of new friendships and opportunities for the future. I can already say, even when Unmechanical is still just being launches, it was a breakthrough game for us.

Problems We Faced

Story

Unmechanical: Extended has a really experimental narrative for a video game. There is no spoken dialog, no written messages. The whole story is told through the things you see and things you experience. And there are pieces of the story missing intentionally, to let the player’s imagination do the explaining.

This has worked only to a certain degree, though. While we were happy to see that each player creatively came with a name of their own for the main hero, many players actually failed to spot the little story elements scattered around the game. Why was the little robot taken and what was supposed to happen to him, who are the other characters and what is their purpose? It’s all there. You just need to have your eyes open.

A lot of players just rushed through the game, complaining that it was too short and that it didn’t have a story, instead of slowing down, feeling the atmosphere and unravel the secrets. Maybe we should have just had memos to read, scattered around the levels, or Morgan-Freeman-like voice explain everything in the end. But where’s the mystery in that?

Working on Two Projects At Once

As we have grown as a studio, we started something that is always a major step for any game studios, small or AAA — we started working on two games simultaneously, with two separate teams and a few people belonging to both projects and some people on top of that, trying to keep it all together.

We started working on Unmechanical: Extended while we were still deeply in the development of Jet Car Stunts. And when the development of Jet Car Stunts was finished, we started with Tower of Guns, which is our next upcoming game after Unmechanical: Extended. Juggling two projects at once isn’t easy. It came with its own pains, like moving to a larger office space, getting more development hardware… this really could have ended badly, with missed deadlines, unclear responsibilities, lower production qualities, bad QA, etc.

It’s also a riskier state of affairs for an independent, self-funded developer than it is for an AAA studio. You really have to be sure that the games you are making are worth the extra trouble. There were some initial pains, occasional yelling and heightened consumption of coffee, but in the end, it all worked better than we even hoped. Jet Car Stunts is out (with only two months delay), Unmechanical is on time, and Tower of Guns is actually ahead of schedule.

And so, after nine months of development, over twenty people involved, four platforms supported, and one production baby born, Unmechanical: Extended was launched this week.

We all hope you’ll like it.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/02/13/the-three-teams-and-extra-coffee-behind-unmechanical-extended/feed/10http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/unmechanicalextended.jpg3.66CEO, Grip Games101Unmechanical: Extended Hits PS4, PS3 on February 10thhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/01/20/unmechanical-extended-hits-ps4-ps3-on-february-10th/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/01/20/unmechanical-extended-hits-ps4-ps3-on-february-10th/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 15:00:25 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=148586Grip Games. We are ready to release our upcoming adventure-puzzle game Unmechanical: Extended, which we have been working on with our colleagues from Talawa Games and Teotl Studios, for PS3 and PS4.]]>Hey! This is Jakub from Grip Games. We are ready to release our upcoming adventure-puzzle game Unmechanical: Extended, which we have been working on with our colleagues from Talawa Games and Teotl Studios, for PS3 and PS4.

Unmechanical: Extended will launch on February 10th and will cost you only $9.99. The game will also offer cross-buy, so if you buy it once, you’ll be able to download it on both PS3 and PS4. If that’s not enough, we’ll be offering a short initial 20% discount for PlayStation Plus subscribers.

If you have missed our initial announcement of Unmechanical: Extended, you should know that it’s an adventure game with a lot of puzzles. You will play as a little robot that has been kidnapped into a strange underground complex and has to find his way out. On your journey, you will discover many secrets of that place, you’ll meet several mysterious characters and you will solve puzzles. A lot of puzzles.

Unmechanical: Extended is all about the experience. You can discover the gorgeous non-linear levels at your own pace — whenever you encounter a new puzzle, it feels more like a natural problem to solve, using your wits, than a barrier that the game has thrown at you. Many of the puzzles will require some out-of-the-box thinking and the process of trying to find the solution is just as important as progressing the story.

Speaking of the story, this version of the game contains an exclusive second story mode, called “Extended,” where you will return to the Unmechanical complex once again to unravel even more mysteries and to save your friend.

If you want to know more about Unmechanical: Extended feel free to ask me here in the comments section. We’re looking forward to see how you like the game!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/01/20/unmechanical-extended-hits-ps4-ps3-on-february-10th/feed/25http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/unmech.jpg2.8CEO, Grip Games253Tower of Guns Launching on PS4, PS3 in 2015http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/11/tower-of-guns-launching-on-ps4-ps3-in-2015/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/11/tower-of-guns-launching-on-ps4-ps3-in-2015/#commentsThu, 11 Dec 2014 15:00:29 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=146469Hi! This is Jakub from Grip Games, and I have some very exciting news to share. Tower of Guns is coming to PS4 and PS3 in 2015, and we’re bringing you the first trailer.

Tower of Guns is an old-school, roguelike, first-person shooter with randomized levels and enemies. It’s a pure FPS experience for the players who just want to get a big gun, shoot stuff, battle gigantic bosses, upgrade their abilities, and modify their gear. No stupid NPCs to get in the way, no ridiculous story to explain what you are doing there. You’re the good one, they are the bad ones. If you get to the end, you win.

But that’s a BIG “if.” The brutal difficulty and randomized levels make sure that you’ll need to earn your right to see the top of the Tower of Guns. Each death sends you back to the first floor, but stronger and better equipped. The levels and enemies are randomly generated for each run. This means that you’ll be playing a different game every time you restart.

There are over 20 weapons and countless modifications and upgrades to get. There are items to collect and perks to help you on your way. And you’ll need help, because Tower of Guns is a bullet-hell style game in the first-person view. The enemies are merciless and you’ll need to be constantly on the move, dodging bullets. Forget cover mechanics or stealth missions — instead, it’s time to re-learn strafing and double-jumping and enter each room with guns blazing. And just when you think you’re out of the worst, you’ll meet one of the game’s many huge bosses, like the Doomball or the Egg Scrambler. You will die, and you will die a lot.

If that’s still not enough for you, Tower of Guns has countless secret rooms to find and rare items to get. There are even secret game modes and stages to unlock!

We’re bringing Tower of Guns to PS4 and PS3 in 2015, and we have a plenty of content ready to show you before launch.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/11/tower-of-guns-launching-on-ps4-ps3-in-2015/feed/34http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/towerofguns.jpg3.02CEO, Grip Games344Jet Car Stunts Launches on PS3, Vita Tuesdayhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/10/03/jet-car-stunts-launches-on-ps3-vita-tuesday/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/10/03/jet-car-stunts-launches-on-ps3-vita-tuesday/#commentsFri, 03 Oct 2014 14:00:22 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=141290Hey! This is Jakub from Grip Games, and I’m here to finally announce the release date of our upcoming game Jet Car Stunts that we have been teasing for quite some time.

And it’s going to be released really soon! The PS3 and PS Vita versions are launching next week, on October 7th. They will cost $7.99 and will support cross buy. So, buying the PS3 version lets you download the PS Vita version and the other way around. The PS4 version will follow shortly. It will also have cross buy support, so if you buy the PS3 or PS Vita version now, then you’ll be able to download the PS4 version, once it arrives, for free.

If you haven’t seen any of the news about the game that we posted here on PlayStation.Blog, then you should know that Jet Car Stunts is a high-speed, adrenaline-fuelled hybrid between a racing game and a platformer. You’ll control a jet-engine-enabled car and will have to race against time — and other players — on the craziest tracks you have ever seen, containing loops, falls, obstacles, and mile-long jumps. See the trailer to get an idea of what Jet Car Stunts looks like and plays like.

The Jet Car Stunts series is around for a few years, but this is the first time it is coming to PSN, with new game modes, new cars, and new features, so we hope that you really like it!

I will be around in the comments section, so feel free to ask me anything you would like to know about the game. Have fun!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/10/03/jet-car-stunts-launches-on-ps3-vita-tuesday/feed/22http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jetcarstunts.jpg3.26CEO, Grip Games226Unmechanical: Extended Edition Coming to PS4, PS3, Vitahttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/08/08/unmechanical-extended-edition-coming-to-ps4-ps3-vita/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/08/08/unmechanical-extended-edition-coming-to-ps4-ps3-vita/#commentsFri, 08 Aug 2014 18:30:15 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=137031Hi everyone! This is Jakub from Grip Games, the team that brought you The Impossible Game and the upcoming Jet Car Stunts. It is my pleasure to be finally able to tell you about our next great project that we are working on right now – Unmechanical: Extended Edition for PS3, PS4 and PS Vita.

Unmechanical, originally made by Talawa Games and Teotl Studios for PC, is a gorgeous puzzle platformer that won numerous awards for its visual design and, even more importantly, won the hearts of players all around the world. It now finally comes to the PSN in an extended edition that brings new puzzles and story, published by Grip Games.

If you have never heard of Unmechanical before, it may remind you of some of the classic games in the genre, like Limbo, Machinarium or the Oddworld series. You control a little flying robot that has been kidnapped into a strange underground complex. In order to get out, you will have to solve the mystery of this strangely un-mechanical place and also solve numerous puzzles along the way. See the trailer to experience the unique feel of the game and see what’s waiting for you in the world of Unmechanical.

The Extended edition brings a completely new adventure in the underground complex, where we learn more about the secrets of the place and meet new characters. This content is exclusive to game consoles and you won’t be able to play it anywhere else.

Unmechanical: Extended Edition is made using the Unreal Engine technology and that means it is going to be gorgeous to look at. It runs at 60fps and 1080p on PS4, and it may be one of the best looking games for PS Vita yet. You can, of course, count on cross-buy once the game is released.

It will come out later this year, or at the beginning of the next. We will be showing you much more from the game in the coming months here at the PlayStation Blog. You can find out more right now at the game’s official web page, our Twitter, or Facebook.

I will be around to answer your questions here, so feel free to ask me anything that you would like to know about Unmechanical: Extended Edition!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/08/08/unmechanical-extended-edition-coming-to-ps4-ps3-vita/feed/24http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/unmechanical.jpg3.85CEO, Grip Games242Jet Car Stunts on PS4, PS3, Vita: Release Details, Pricing Revealedhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/05/21/jet-car-stunts-on-ps4-ps3-vita-release-details-pricing-revealed/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/05/21/jet-car-stunts-on-ps4-ps3-vita-release-details-pricing-revealed/#commentsWed, 21 May 2014 18:34:45 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=132752Jet Car Stunts to PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. We can now share more information about the release dates, pricing, cross-buy and cross-play.]]>Hey! This is Jakub from Grip Games. Some time ago, I told you that we’re bringing the popular racing franchise Jet Car Stunts to PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. We can now share more information about the release dates, pricing, cross-buy and cross-play.

But first, have a look at the new trailer showing the game in all its insanity. You’ll be flying in the air, racing on narrow tracks and using jets to reach supersonic speeds. Jet Car Stunts is a hybrid between a racing game and a platformer. The tracks are devious, the pace is ruthless and your opponents are the best racers on PSN.

Jet Car Stunts will launch on PS3 and PS Vita in July, followed by the PS4 version in August. All three versions support cross-play, and the best players’ ghosts and leaderboards transcend all three platforms.

The PS3 and Vita versions will offer cross-buy and will cost $7.99. The PS4 version will be significantly upgraded – offering better visuals and more track details, and running at 60fps and 1080p. Anyone who purchased the PS3 or PS Vita version will get a discount when buying Jet Car Stunts for PS4. We will announce more about the PS4 version upgrades and the discount for the owners of the PS3/PSV version as the release date gets closer.

We can’t wait to show you more of Jet Car Stunts. Follow PlayStation.Blog as well as our Twitter and Facebook pages, and our official website for more news about Jet Car Stunts, including the exact release date.

If you haven’t heard about Jet Car Stunts before, it’s a critically-acclaimed racing franchise that originated on mobile. Jet Car Stunts is unique because it lets you drive a Jet Car — a combination of a race car and a jet plane — and sends you on an adrenaline-fuelled race, miles above the ground.

This version of Jet Car Stunts is a remake of the original game. We’ve redone everything — the graphics are new to match the PS3 and PS4 level of visual quality, we’ve added new cars, new game modes, asynchronous multiplayer, and DualShock controls. But we’ve left everything that makes Jet Car Stunts great… the thrills, the crashes, the need for precision, and the obsession to improve your times again and again.

Jet Car Stunts is like nothing you’ve seen before — from its sleek style to gravity-defying stunts. It’s as much a platformer as it is a racing game. You’ll be required to strategically use your jet engine’s fuel to help you jump over incredible distances, from one platform to another. You’ll be doing loops, corkscrew maneuvers, you’ll be freefalling and avoiding obstacles, and you’ll be drifting near the edges of platforms.

Jet Car Stunts will be released simultaneously for PS3 and PS Vita, followed later by the PS4 version that will contain even shinier graphics and effects. You’ll definitely be hearing more about the game here on PlayStation.Blog as the release date comes closer.

Hey everybody! This is Jakub, from Grip Games. Our long-awaited, multiplayer action platformer, Atomic Ninjas, is finally cutting its way to PS3 and PS Vita next week on PlayStation Store, Cross Buy and Cross Save, for $9.99. We’re happy to reveal that, contrary to a previous announcement, both the PS3 and PS Vita versions will be released simultaneously on October 8th — as all the evil ninjas sabotaging the launch were apprehended and beheaded

For those of you who not yet familiar with Atomic Ninjas, it’s a hilarious, 2.5D platformer with a focus on multiplayer matches, both online and local. But single-player mode is also present, including vicious ninja-bots!

The most important gameplay feature is that you won’t be able to directly kill your opponents. Instead, you have to use the arenas themselves to get rid of the competition. Who needs guns when you have lava, acid pools, and laser walls? Your goal will be to push other ninjas into these environmental hazards and, of course, stay out of them yourself. This creates a completely new twist on gameplay, where you have to outmaneuver and outsmart your opponents.

To help you with this task, there’s an arsenal of ninja weapons. Punches, shurikens, and ninja ropes, but also more “atomic” stuff like rockets, telekinesis, and super-abilities, which can make you invulnerable, super-fast, invisible, etc. Each weapon brings its unique play style with it — from aggressive, head-on punches, to more defensive, long-range telekinesis. You can use invisibility and hiding spots for a stealthy approach, or you can wreak havoc.

There are seven Atomic Ninjas to unlock and pick from. Each has his own personality, taunts, and starting weapons. As for the gameplay modes, you can find Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Treasure Hunt, Domination, and also team-based modes.

Atomic Ninjas is, most of all, a really hilarious game. It’s not just its comical look and sounds, but the overall, entertaining gameplay. There’s no shortage of intense fights and situations, but it all makes you laugh, rather than feel tense. It’s a game that you can play for a few minutes to kill some time, or to spend dozens of hours while mastering it and unlocking all its secrets.

Needless to say, we’re very proud of Atomic Ninjas, and we can’t wait to see your reactions when you get to play it. Atomic Ninjas launches for both the PS3 and PS Vita next week, and the players on both systems are able to play against each other. Cross buy is supported, so purchasing one version lets you download the other one for free. A free trial will also be available, so you’ll be able to try a few matches before buying the game.

Hey everybody, this is Jakub from Grip Games. Our newest game, Atomic Ninjas, is almost ready, and I return to the PlayStation.Blog today to finally announce the release date and price! Atomic Ninjas will be launched for PS3 on October 8th for $9.99! It will launch on PS Vita one week later, and it’ll be cross buy.

With that said, let me introduce you to the craziest and most hilarious feature of the whole game. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to show you for a very long time: the Noob Rage.

Sometimes, the biggest loser in the whole match who’s getting massacred by all the other players, is given a very unfair chance for sweet revenge. He’ll become a raging, screaming, unstoppable hulk for a few seconds — an absolute ruler of the game who dominates the arena. When you see that one of the other players has turned into the Noob, you only have one strategy to use: run for your life! Hilarity ensues.

As if Atomic Ninjas wasn’t a crazy enough game, the Noob Rage is pure chaos. The player who gets this advantage can use it to increase their score, or he can use it to wreak havoc and deliver some good, old-fashioned payback. The Noob is faster than all the other ninjas, cannot be harmed, and the player instantly punches anything he touches.

The Noob effect remains for a few seconds, or until he manages to score some points (like killing someone in Deathmatch, or delivering a flag in CTF). At that point, he’ll finally calm down and the game will continue as normal.

That’s it for Noob Rage! Please note that there’s no day-one DLC in our game — all seven arenas, six weapons, eight ninjas, and seven superpowers are right there, waiting for you to pick them up and take them online. We are exceptionally proud of Atomic Ninjas, and we’re really looking forward to playing it with you in just a few weeks.